The Future is Transparent

This October, we opened up our explorer for transparent businesses and traceable products in celebration of our #OpenOctober campaign. Over the month we highlighted honest brands and retailers that are sharing information about the people, places and processes behind our food. And we equipped shoppers with the knowledge to purchase products that align with their morals and values.

Open October allowed us to learn more about conscious shoppers. We discovered that shoppers who spent time on our explorer most enjoyed learning about how products are made and reading stories about products. The top 3 most requested data points were whether a product was ethically sourced, its environmental impact and more information on the sustainable farming practices used to produce it.

The team would like to say a big thank you to the brands and retailers who took part, everyone who supported us on social media and all the shoppers who completed our survey!

Ethical Consumer Conference

Last month I also attended the Ethical Consumer Conference 2017 hosted by the team behind Ethical Consumer. The theme, ‘Challenging Corporate power in a changing political landscape’, raised difficult questions and interesting debates. The event is attended by representatives from big corporates, charities, startups, universities, certifiers, politicians, SMEs and plenty of individuals, which led to well rounded discussions in the breakout sessions. Below I’ve compiled my top 3 takeaways:

1) The power of positivity

Sean Dagan-Wood, Editor of Positive News, discussed the impact of reading a positive news article. One point that stuck with me is that individuals feel empowered to be active citizens when they read an article that is positive, as it allows the reader to feel that anything is possible. Positive News’ approach aligns closely with our own company ethos; to support and inspire businesses by celebrating and reinforcing the positive.

2) The impact of Brexit

A big theme throughout the conference was Brexit and its unknown impact on ethical trade in the UK and globally. Many of the speakers highlighted the role that some large corporates have played in supporting political parties and decisions. Overall the debate offered an important reminder that as shoppers we should be active and aware, and try our hardest to only support businesses whose values match our own.

3) From shopper to citizen

During a workshop on ethical consumption one shopper boldly stated that we need to stop thinking as consumers and start thinking as citizens! This is something we regularly discuss at Provenance – as we build out the platform our aim is to support all shoppers to purchase as citizens.

Overall it was a great day and perfect opportunity to meet like-minded individuals – we’re already looking forward to next year!

Final thoughts

This month has been a great opportunity for us to build our community – from conscious shoppers to dairy farmers, chocolate brands and environmental researchers – we are excited to be building a melting pot of passionate citizens committed to developing a more transparent future for commerce.

If you liked exploring Provenance we’d love to hear your thoughts and feedback. Let us know through our shopper survey!